Restrictions on travel for children lifted as Cayman moves to phase 5

Quarantine restrictions for children have been eased, paving the way for families to travel to the Cayman Islands.

With immediate effect, children under 11, travelling with vaccinated adults, will no longer be required to isolate.

The decision, announced at a press briefing Thursday afternoon, lifts one of the major barriers to the return of tourism. There was also good news about airlift into the islands with new flights from Washington, Newark, Miami and Denver by next month.

There will be no return of cruise tourism for the foreseeable future, however.

Visitor numbers have been limited since the official reopening of the borders last November.

But the decision to move to phase 5 of the reopening plan is expected to boost tourism and make life easier for Cayman families travelling overseas.

Premier Wayne Panton said, “We will officially be moving into an updated phase 5 of our national border reopening plan, effective today.”

He added, “Our tourism partners have been adamant for a long time that to truly reopen the tourism industry, visitors must be able to bring their children here under the same vaccination status as their parents. These changes achieve that.”

The Control of Covid-19 (Travel) (Amendment) Regulations, 2022 and Control and Management of Covid-19 (Amendment) Regulations, 2022 came into effect today.

A reduction in the time period for travellers to quarantine and changes to the testing regime are also planned, Panton said. No details were given on whether the lateral flow tests required on days two, five and 10 for arriving travellers will still be required.

Panton meanwhile, announced a new requirement for anyone travelling to the Sister Islands to get a negative lateral flow or PCR test. He said the islands had a vulnerable population and were seeing too many cases.

The premier also gave his well wishes to Education Minister Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, an MP for the Sister Islands, who is positive for COVID-19 and was being airlifted from Cayman Brac to the Cayman Islands Hospital in George Town on Thursday afternoon.

Flights begin to return

Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan said he was hopeful that the changes combined with an increase in airline services and routes would boost tourism for Spring Break and Easter.

He said, “These changes to the regulations will bring a range of encouraging benefits to our tourism industry.

“They will make travelling to the Cayman Islands with unvaccinated children easier, make quarantine protocols less restrictive and present another step forward for us in continuing to live with COVID-19 in our midst.”

Bryan added that Cayman was a family-friendly destination, and the easing of restrictions combined with the arrival of child-friendly vaccines in many countries would help the island tap into pent-up demand for vacations.

He confirmed that United Airlines service from Chicago, Houston, Washington and Newark would resume February. The American Airlines service from Miami and Cayman Airways flights from Denver will also resume next month while Delta will resume flights from Atlanta in March. The Southwest Airlines service from Fort Lauderdale and Baltimore and American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, will also resume at the same time, Bryan added.

“The return of these flights increases the number of airline seats to Cayman and the variety of gateways to make it easier and more convenient for visitors to get to our wonderful shores,” he said.

Bryan acknowledged that the raised caution level on cruise travel from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had delayed the return of that sector. He said he would be meeting with industry figureheads next month both to establish the parameters for the resumption of cruise tourism and to help reset the relationship between cruise corporations and Cayman operators.

Hospital cases still a concern

Health Minister Sabrina Turner said she was still concerned about the number of hospital cases – five at Health City and 12 at the Cayman Islands Hospital. She said the back-up emergency hospital at the Family Life Centre was available if needed, and added that the George Town hospital now has the capacity to produce medical-grade oxygen – a vital tool in treating severe COVID cases.

She said limits on public gatherings were not yet being lifted. She said ‘super spreader’ events posed the greatest risk of accelerating the spread of COVID further.

She reiterated concerns about the spread of the virus on the Sister Islands, where 76 new cases of COVID-19 were announced in the weekly report covering 9-15 Jan., and said the new rules requiring testing for travel to Little Cayman and the Brac would be in force for the holiday weekend.

Urging people to get vaccinated, she emphasised statistics showing that 13 of the 15 people who had died in Cayman were unvaccinated.

She said two doses of the vaccine and the booster provided the best protections against severe illness and urged everyone who is eligible to “get boosted”.

Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr. Autilia Newton reiterated that point saying the majority of people needing hospital treatment for COVID were unvaccinated. Those that had been vaccinated but still suffered severe symptoms were “extremely vulnerable” people with other diseases, she said. For people in those circumstances, she said, the booster vaccine was especially important.

PCR exit tests remain for community

The changes to the rules do not include a removal of the requirement for positive COVID cases to have an exit PCR test before being released from isolation.

Medical Officer of Health Dr. Samuel Williams Rodriguez acknowledged human rights concerns around people being quarantined for extended periods but said Public Health would not release people who were considered a risk to the community.

He said it was possible to be released with a positive PCR test provided the CT value – which indicates the viral load – was within a range that was considered safe. He said other factors including the existence of symptoms and how many days an individual had already spent in quarantine were also factored into the mix.

Meanwhile, 517 travellers, who have not tested positive but who are in mandatory quarantine because they are unvaccinated or had travelled with unvaccinated children, will be released after undertaking certified lateral flow tests, Wesley Howell, chief officer in the Ministry of Border Control and Labour, said.

To meet demand for those exit tests, the Health Services Authority will hold a drive-through clinic offering certified lateral flow tests at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex parking lot from 7am to 10am on Friday, 21 Jan.

According to a press release issued following Thursday’s press briefing, people who use the service must register and pay in advance, with a credit or debit card, through the HSA’s new COVID testing online platform at www.hsa.ky/appointment. Tests cost $25 each and the results will be emailed in approximately one hour.

The HSA stated that those attending the drive-through must bring their photo ID along with the QR code that will be provided in the email as proof of payment.

People paying in cash can take exit tests at the HSA’s testing centre at 131 MacLendon Drive, between 7:30am and noon.

The certified LFT exit testing is for people aged 5 and older. Children under 5 are not required to be tested.